How I know it's getting better

[Anonymous]

Right around Christmas of last year, my house was sold, (I rent).  Unfortunately on Friday we received a notice from our new landlord that they want us out in 60 days so they can completely renovate.  We went to look at a new house on Saturday and when the realtor saw my credit report, she literally gasped and said, "Oh my God!"  I was like, umm, is that good or bad?  She said that the score was "excellent" and that she regularly sees people turning in applications with scores in the 300s  (!).  She said we'd be notified within two weeks whether or not we got the place, hopefully we did.

On a worse note, due to a bank error my payments didn't post in time for my credit cards, so my utilization went up drastically and my Experian score dropped 29 points!  (Was 670, now 631).  Yikes!  Luckily this month my utilization will be back around zero and hopefully it'll bounce back.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Right around Christmas of last year, my house was sold, (I rent).  Unfortunately on Friday we received a notice from our new landlord that they want us out in 60 days so they can completely renovate.  We went to look at a new house on Saturday and when the realtor saw my credit report, she literally gasped and said, "Oh my God!"  I was like, umm, is that good or bad?  She said that the score was "excellent" and that she regularly sees people turning in applications with scores in the 300s  (!).  She said we'd be notified within two weeks whether or not we got the place, hopefully we did.

On a worse note, due to a bank error my payments didn't post in time for my credit cards, so my utilization went up drastically and my Experian score dropped 29 points!  (Was 670, now 631).  Yikes!  Luckily this month my utilization will be back around zero and hopefully it'll bounce back.

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Seriously??? The place where you live must be bad credit he!!....

[Anonymous]

Seriously!  My jaw dropped when she said that.  I mean, why even bother showing your credit report with a score that low, you're not going to get anything anyway!

[Anonymous]

Sheesh.  I see ads locally demanding > 700 credit.  I believe you though.  5 out of 10 people I know went through a BK, foreclosure, or something major in the last decade.  You never hear about it until you are going through something like that yourself.  Then all of a sudden people open up and let you know that you aren't alone.

I was totally stressed out about getting approved myself recently.  I really do wonder what FICO has to do with renting.  People are going to pay their rent before they pay off their credit cards.  Priority 1 is always going to be having a roof.

Congrats!!!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Sheesh.  I see ads locally demanding > 700 credit.  I believe you though.  5 out of 10 people I know went through a BK, foreclosure, or something major in the last decade.  You never hear about it until you are going through something like that yourself.  Then all of a sudden people open up and let you know that you aren't alone.

I was totally stressed out about getting approved myself recently.  I really do wonder what FICO has to do with renting.  People are going to pay their rent before they pay off their credit cards.  Priority 1 is always going to be having a roof.

Congrats!!!

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The score has a lot less to do with it than seeing the actual report. Most want to see if you have any prior "rental issues" such as broken leases, damages or unpaid utility accounts. The scores are usually secondary unless you're in  "pricey" rental market.

[Anonymous]

I'm currently looking at a renting a TH and most applications I've seen state as a requirement 600+ credit score.

[Anonymous]

Exactly.  Which is why I was so surprised the realtor told me she's so many abysmal credit scores.  I mean, why even bother?  And NormanFH, luckily I have no rental issues on my report.  Only two paid collections and a tax lien, for which I'm expecting a vacate letter very soon.

[Anonymous]

A lot of times they will waive the score requirements if you let them know you have credit issues, but you don't have any rental related items as I described above. Often they will just have you pay a larger security deposit.